Film festival fraud; documentarians investigate the mystery of Marie Castaldo

A film still depicts Marie Castaldo’s emotional film interview.

Many of the people they spoke to comment on Marie’s charm and charisma. The filmmakers think that Marie chose to do film festivals because there is glamour involved in them. The world of film is one where you get praise and attention. However, in terms of her involvement with the festivals, the filmmakers say Marie believes she is not guilty of any crimes or any serious wrongdoings. Nuxoll said, “From her perspective she made some bad decisions and, as she puts it, she trusted the wrong people. With a lot of this stuff that happened in Narrowsburg she says it was Richie’s fault, that he was doing unethical things that she wasn’t aware of.”

Nuxoll and Shane plan to return to Narrowsburg to shoot more footage, and invite anyone who has a story about Marie or Richie that they want to share to email them at mysteryofmarie@gmail.com.

They plan to film for another year and then spend a year after that editing. Shane notes that documentaries take a long time to create, and this one is particularly heavy on the research and tracking people down. They are still raising money for the film and are sponsored by Women Make Movies. You can donate to the film on their website.

Nuxoll jokes, “The people of Narrowsburg might be a little reluctant to invest in any film associated with the Castellanos, but we can guarantee we are trustworthy.”